Tag Archives: Oklahoma Sooners

The opening game of the 2017 Women’s College World Series Championship Series was an all-time classic with Oklahoma winning 7-5 in 17 innings. (Photo courtesy of Oklahoma Softball on Twitter)

Oklahoma Wins Epic Extra Inning Championship Series Game One

A close and enthralling contest needed more than two full games to decide a victor. Oklahomawon 7-5 over Florida in 17 innings as they took a 1-0 lead in the 2017 Women’s College World Series Championship Series. Shay Knighten’s three run home run in the top of the 17th put the Sooners in front for good after the Gators battled back not once, but twice on their final strike.

The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fourth when the Gators got on the board with a single by Aleshia Ocasio that brought home Nicole DeWitt. The Sooners responded right away in the top of the fifth with Sydney Romero driving home Nicole Pendley on a single.

Oklahoma took a 2-1 lead in the top of the sixth on a solo shot by Nicole Mendes. The Gators were down to their final out (and strike) when Sophia Reynoso hit a blooper into left-center field. The Sooners were deep in the outfield and could not come up with the catch as Ocasio came around to tie the game up and send the game into extra innings.

The teams failed to get much going in the eighth through eleventh innings as neither team had a runner get to second base in those innings. In the twelfth inning, Oklahoma’s Shay Knighten led off with a double and was followed by Fale Aviu, who crushed a two run shot to give Oklahoma a 4-2 lead.

The Gators started the bottom of the twelfth with a walk and a hit to put two on with no outs. The Gators then popped out on a bunt and struck out with back-to-back pinch hitters. Amanda Lorenz came up with two outs as Oklahoma went from Paige Parker back to starter Paige Lowary. Lowary got Lorenz to her final strike, but Lorenz was able to drive a ball to the left center field wall for a triple to bring home both runners and keep the game going.

The Sooners were able to get runners on first and second in the top of the 15th inning after Delanie Gourley hit Lea Wodach and a wild pitch followed to move the runners up a base. The next pitch was a ball to load the bases, but a ground out ended the threat.

In the top of the 16th, Oklahoma put two runners on with no outs and saw them both sacrificed up a base on a fly out to right center. A walk loaded the bases but a force out at home and strikeout left the bases loaded for the second straight inning.

The Sooners once again put two runners on base in the 17th and Shay Knighten finally put the runs across for Oklahoma with a three run home run. The Gators were able to load the bases with one out and Lorenz at the plate where she hit a sacrifice fly to cut the deficit to 7-5. A strikeout from Lowary ended the game to give the Sooners the win after an incredible game.

Lowary started and ended the game as she went 10 1/3 innings giving up two runs on eight hits while striking out seven to earn the win. Parker went 6 2/3 innings giving up three runs on four hits with seven strikeouts. Mendes, Knighten, Aviu, and Romero were the only Oklahoma hitters to finish with multiple hits.

Barnhill also started and ended the game for Florida, but she took the loss. She pitched 9 innings giving up five runs on nine hits with 13 strikeouts. Gourley threw 8 innings of relief ball giving up two runs on four hits with 13 strikeouts. Justine McLean, Reynoso, and Lorenz all finished with multiple hits for the Gators.

Florida advances to their third WCWS Championship Series in the past four season and will face Oklahoma. (Photo courtesy of Florida Gators Softball on Twitter)

2017 Women’s College World Series Championship Series Schedule

The final two teams for the 2017 Women’s College World Series have reached the pinnacle of the season. The Florida Gators and Oklahoma Sooners are the two teams that will play in best of three series to determine the 2017 NCAA Division 1 Softball National Champion.

The Gators were the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and were one of the best teams all season especially in the circle. Florida has been on the brink of elimination a couple of times in this tournament, but they responded resolutely against Oklahoma State in the regionals and Alabama in the Super Regionals.

In Oklahoma City, the Gators hit another gear posting back-to-back shutouts against SEC foes Texas A&M and LSU. They nearly had a third against Washington, but gave up a home run when the Huskies were down to their final out. Nevertheless, Kelly Barnhill and Delanie Gourley pose an extremely formidable duo against the Sooners in what should be a series showcasing great pitching.

Oklahoma began the season as the top team, but hit a rough patch early on. Since the Sooners lost back-to-back games against Cal Poly in mid-March, they have been on a tear losing just twice: once to Baylor in the regular season and to North Dakota State in the opening game of the regional.

Since the loss to NDSU, the Sooners have not dropped a game though they were nearly eliminated against Tulsa in the regional. However, their last five games against Auburn (twice on the road), Baylor, Washington, and Oregon have been nothing short of impressive. PaigeParker and PaigeLowary will be key in the circle in the same manner as Barnhill and Gourley for the Gators.

2017 Women’s College World Series Championship Series

Below is the schedule for the 2017 Women’s College World Series Champions Series. This is set to be an excellent matchup between Florida and Oklahoma particularly in the circle with four excellent pitchers. This will mark the fifth straight season that either the Gators or Sooners will go home with the NCAA Championship.

Many of the top matchups are getting most of the press and rightfully so. LSU versus Wisconsin, USC versus Alabama, Notre Dame at Texas, Ole Miss versus Florida State, Georgia versus North Carolina, Clemson at Auburn, and Oklahoma versus Houston are all tantalizing on paper. All of those games will be fun to watch, but let’s take at some of the games that may not be on the radar.

Note, these games are listed in order of when they will be played.

1. South Carolina at Vanderbilt (9/1 at 8 PM EST) – This probably does not strike as much, but it could be a game that determines if one of these schools reaches a bowl game in 2016. This will be Will Muschamp’s first game at South Carolina and he inherits just nine returning starters (four on offense and five on defense). It will be interesting to see if Vanderbilt’s offense can improve from 2015 and the impact Muschamp has on the South Carolina team.

2. Kansas State at Stanford (9/2 at 9 PM EST) – A Friday night game at the Farm featuring Heisman hopeful Christian McCaffrey against a formidable Bill Snyder coached Kansas State defense is worth watching. Heck, just a chance to see McCaffrey in action is a game worth watching. Can the K-State defense keep McCaffrey somewhat in check? How will Stanford’s new quarterback play? Can K-State keep the game close and provide some worry to the Stanford fans? There are a lot of things that will be interesting to keep track of in this one.

3. Western Michigan at Northwestern (9/3 at 12 PM EST) – Western Michigan is a team that could make some serious noise in the MAC West in 2016. A game against a team like Northwestern will be a very good measuring stick. The Broncos have offensive weapons like quarterback Zach Terrell (3,510 yards with 67% completions as well as 29 touchdowns and 9 interceptions), Jamauri Bogan (1,051 yards rushing and 16 touchdowns), Jarvion Franklin (735 yards rushing and five touchdowns), and receiver Corey Davis (90 catches for 1,436 yards and 12 touchdowns). Meanwhile, how Clayton Thorson progressed for the Northwestern offense is a big question because they cannot rely solely on Justin Jackson (1,418 yards rushing and 5 touchdowns).

4. Missouri at West Virginia (9/3 at 12 PM EST) – Missouri had one of the top defenses from last year (gave up 16.2 points and 302 yards per game) while West Virginia averaged 34 points and 480 yards per game. The contrasting styles and how each team can effectively make adjustments will be exciting to see.

5. UCLA at Texas A&M (9/3 at 3:30 PM EST) – UCLA is coming off an 8-5 season and is considered one of the favorites for the Pac-12 and Pac-12 Title. They are led by sophomore Josh Rosen (3,668 yards with 23 touchdowns and 11 interceptions) and have nine starters back on defense. Kevin Sumlin may be under the microscope more than usual this year after back-to-back 8-5 seasons. Two former Sooners will be in the back for the Aggies as Trevor Knight and Keith Ford. The Aggies will also have back the top five receivers from 2015 and this could be a fun game to watch if the offenses explode.

6. BYU versus Arizona(9/3 at 10:30 PM EST) – BYU may appear on this list quite often given their schedule. Taysom Hill is back for yet another season and he goes up against an Arizona team that went 7-6 last year and returns 15 starters. This game will also be Kalani Sitake’s first game in charge of BYU after 11 years of Bronco Mendenhall. This game will be a fun one to watch between Arizona’s Anu Solomon and Hill.

7. FCS Teams versus FBS Teams – These matchups are always worth keeping an eye on because they can produce some shocking results (see Portland State winning not once, but twice in 2015 against FCS teams). It is always great to see the FCS teams holding a late lead and see if they can complete the upset.

Baker Mayfield and Oklahoma lost to Clemson the 2015 College Football Playoffs. How will they fare in 2016? (Andy Lyons/Getty Images North America)

Five Predictions For The Big 12 Conference In 2016

The 2016 College Football season is coming fast and that means prediction time. Below are five predictions for Big 12 Conference for the 2016 season. Some predictions will be right, some predictions will be wrong, and some will be spectacularly awful (or correct) by the end of the season.

There are no changes for the Big 12 Conference as the ten teams remain the same. Those ten teams are Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas, Texas Tech, and West Virginia. In addition, the Big 12 employs a true round robin in which each team will play one another.

Here are five predictions for the Big 12 Conference in 2016:

1. Kansas State will make a seventh straight bowl game – Bill Snyder has a special touch with this Kansas State program. He took them from the doldrums in the late 80’s to national prominence in the late 90’s. Since returning to the Wildcats in 2009, Snyder led the team to a bowl game each year with the exception of that 2009 season when they went 6-6.

This year the Wildcats have five starters back on offense and seven back on defense. The defense underperformed last year giving up 31.5 points and 452 yards per game with those totals the highest since Snyder’s return. The defense should be better after a poor 2015 season.

The schedule has some bumps with the opening game at Stanford on Friday, September 2. They also face West Virginia, Oklahoma, Iowa State, Baylor, and TCU on the road in conference play, but three wins is not out of the question between those teams. At home the Wildcats will play Florida Atlantic and Missouri State in non-conference (two presumed wins) while playing Texas Tech, Texas, Oklahoma State, and Kansas. The Wildcats looked poised for another bowl game in 2016 and a few upsets look like they are in the cards as well.

2. Oklahoma will lose at least one game they are favored in – This is a common theme for Oklahoma under Bob Stoops, but this one will not necessarily be a bad thing. After the Sooners lost to Texas in 2015, they went on a tear by winning their final seven games and reaching the CFB Playoffs where they lost to Clemson 37-17.

In 2014, Oklahoma lost to TCU, Kansas State, Baylor, and Oklahoma State while favored in each of those games. In 2013, they lost to Texas as a 12 point favorite while in 2012 they lost to both Kansas State and Notre Dame at home as a double digit favorite. 2011 saw them drop games to Texas Tech (favored by 28.5 points) and Baylor (15.5 point favorites). The chances Oklahoma drops a game they should not are pretty good, but that does not mean the CFB playoffs are out of reach.

3. West Virginia will not win more than 7 games – The offense for West Virginia will be solid in 2016 with eight starters back from a group that put up 34 points and 480 yards per game last season. The defense took a hit as only four starters are back from the 2015 group that allowed 24.6 points and 396 yards per game.

The schedule opens with Missouri and Youngstown State at home before facing BYU in Maryland for a neutral site game. In conference, they play Kansas State, TCU, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Baylor at home while facing Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Texas, and Iowa State on the road. There does not appear to be enough on the schedule for the West Virginia to get more than seven wins, but they could find their way to a bowl game at 6-6.

4. TCU and Baylor will win 20 games or lesscombined – TCU went 12-1 in 2014 and 11-2 in 2015 while Baylor went 11-2 in 2014 and 10-3 in 2015. A repeat of even the worst outcome for those two would prove this one wrong.

TCU lost a lot of offensive firepower as quarterback Trevone Boykin, running back Aaron Green, and receiver Josh Doctson have moved on to the NFL. The offense put up 42.1 points and 563 yards per game in 2015 but only three starters are back. TCU does get former Texas A&M quarterback Kenny Hill for 2016 which definitely helps. The defense for TCU will be the strength as eight starters are back from last year’s group that allowed 27.2 points and 398 yards per game. This group should keep TCU in every game and the Horned Frogs look like the better of the two teams here.

For Baylor, they have plenty of concerns led by the ouster of former head coach Art Briles. He was replaced with Jim Grobe who is more of a defensive minded coach though he has kept most of the assistants from last year. Losing the mastermind of the offense, which has only five starters back, will no doubt hurt. Meanwhile on defense, there are also only five starters back from a unit that allowed 28.3 points and 397 yards per game in 2015. Those numbers were put up with nine starters back last year. There is enough turmoil and turnover that Baylor could take a step back in 2016.

5. Texas and Texas Tech will both make a bowl game – Texas did not make a bowl game in 2015 after going 5-7, but did make a bowl game in Charlie Strong’s first season in 2014 (a 31-7 loss to Arkansas). Texas Tech did the opposite: they missed a bowl game in 2014, but made the Texas Bowl last year where they were crushed by LSU 56-27.

Texas is likely to make a bowl game as they will be in Strong’s third season with seven starters back on offense and eight starters back on defense. The offense improved by five points and 34 yards per game from 2014 to 2015, but the defense took a step back. After allowing 23.8 points and 349 yards per contest in 2014, they gave up 30.3 points and 453 yards per game last year. The Longhorns play Notre Dame and UTEP at home as well as California on the road in non-conference, but there is no reason the Longhorns should not improve enough to have a winning record in 2016.

Texas Tech is the more worrisome team to make a bowl game. The offense will be prolific again in 2016 as they have six starters back led by quarterback Patrick Mahomes and a bevy of receivers to throw to. The defense is the worry as they allowed 43.6 points and 548 yards per game in 2015 with eight starters back and now there are six starters back. It could be another year of feasting for Big 12 offenses on the Red Raider defense.

For Texas Tech, they face Stephen F Austin, Arizona State (away), and Louisiana Tech in non-conference and a 2-1 record is likely and 3-0 is possible if they are in a shootout with the Sun Devils. In conference, they play Kansas, West Virginia, Oklahoma and Texas at home while facing Kansas State, TCU, Oklahoma State, and Iowa State on the road. Their final conference game is against Baylor in Arlington, Texas.

The Prediction Schedule

With the Big 12 predictions above, there are now predictions for seven conferences in the books. Below are the predictions completed and which conference is next.

The Oklahoma Sooners won the 2016 NCAA Division 1 Softball Championship with an exciting 2-1 win over Auburn in game three of the Championship Series. It was the third National Championship for Oklahoma after winning in 2000 and 2013.

Oklahoma (57-8), as they had done in both games 1 and 2, started the scoring. A one out single by CaleighClifton was followed by two throwing errors on Game 2 heroine Emily Carosone that allowed Clifton to score. Fale Aviu brought home Shay Knighten two batters later to make it 2-0 Sooners after one inning.

Auburn (58-12) started the top of the second with straight singles, but went down in order to end the bright start to the innings. The Tigers had an even better opportunity in the third with an error by Oklahoma’s PaigeParker allowing Victoria Draper to reach first. Singles by Tiffany Howard and Kasey Cooper loaded the bases for Carosone, but she struck out and a double play ground ball by Carlee Wallace ended the scoring chance.

Auburn finally broke through in the top of the third with a rocket of lead off home run by Jade Rhodes. That made it 2-1 in favor of Oklahoma while Parker would give up a walk to force some action in the Sooner bullpen. Parker got out of the inning with no further damage by retiring the next three batters.

Oklahoma had a chance to pad their 2-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth with two on and two out, but a LeaWodach ground out ended the inning.

The top of the seventh started with Parker striking out Madi Gipson. Parker then induced a pop out from Whitney Jordan before a nerve racking 11 pitch at bat to Courtney Shea led to the Championship clinching victory.

Parker (38-3) went the distance giving up just the one run on five hits while striking out 5 batters to win her 27th straight start. She was named the Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after going 10-0 in the postseason and 5-0 in the WCWS. The Sooners won 32 of their final 33 games en route to the Title.

Jade Rhodes was the sole Auburn player to record multiple going 2 for 3 including the solo shot in the fourth inning. Makayla Martin went a solid six innings giving up two runs on five hits. The Tigers were attempting to win their first softball National Championship.

Oklahoma becomes the third team to win at least three National Championships after UCLA and Arizona.

The Auburn Tigers defeated the Oklahoma Sooners 11-7 in 8 innings thanks to Emily Carosone’s walk off grand slam. The win pushed the 2016 Women’s College World Series to a decisive and winner take all game three.

The Sooners got the scoring started in the top of the first with a two out infield single by Fale Aviu with Aviu beating the throw to first to allow Erin Miller to score. The Sooners left runners stranded on second and third, but took a 1-0 lead after a half inning.

The Sooners built a bigger lead in the second with a lead off homer by Kady Self. That was just the beginning as back-t0-back singles followed by a throwing error allowed a run to score and it became a 3-0 game. Two straight squeeze bunts and a single brought home three more runs for the Sooners to push the lead to 6-0 and forced Auburn’s starting pitcher Kaylee Carlson out of the circle. Oklahoma added another run with a single by Nicole Pendley and led 7-0 after just an inning and a half.

However, the Tigers had a scoring barrage of their own in the bottom of the second. Carlee Wallace was hit by a pitch to start the inning, but two straight strikeouts left Auburn against the wall. After a walk, Whitney Jordan hit a three run home run to left field to get Auburn on the board. After an error, TiffanyHoward tripled home another run to make it 7-4 Sooners and that chased Oklahoma’s KelseyStevens from the circle.

The Tigers got a single from Kasey Cooper to drive home Howard while a hit by pitch and walk loaded the bases for Auburn. The rally ended with Jade Rhodes striking out to end the second, but Auburn cut the deficit to 7-5.

Auburn would complete the 7 run comeback in the bottom of the fourth with a single from Howard followed by a two run blast to right field by Cooper.

Oklahoma had a great chance to reclaim the lead in the top of the sixth. A two out single by Caleigh Clifton was followed by a deep shot to left field by Shay Knighten. The ball was headed over the fence when Auburn’s Tiffany Howard made a great catch to keep the game tied at 7.

The fatal blow for Oklahoma came in the bottom of the eighth. After a ground out, two singles and a bunt loaded the bases for Emily Carosone. Carosone took the pitch over the right center field to end the game in grand fashion.

The Sooners RBIs from six different hitters, but only Sydney Romero and Kady Self had multiple hits. Jayden Chestnut took the loss after throwing 5 2/3 innings giving up 6 runs on 11 hits. Oklahoma had won 31 straight games prior to this loss.

Auburn was led by Tiffany Howard who went 4 for 5 with one RBI and three runs scored. Carosone went 3 for 4 with all four her RBIs coming on the last pitch. Kasey Cooper went 2 for 4 with three RBI. MakaylaMartin was awarded the win after tossing two innings and giving up only one hit. However, it was RachaelWalters who helped the Tigers from giving up more runs after the Sooners built a 7-0 lead. Walters threw 5 innings of shutout ball giving up just four hits.

The Sooners’ Kelsey Arnold drew a walk to start the bottom of the third followed by a bunt by Erin Miller that put two on with no outs. After Auburn forced a strike out and fly out,Romero came up and hit a three run shot to left-center to give the Sooners a 3-0 lead.

The Sooners loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth after three straight hits by Miller, Caleigh Clifton, and Shay Knighten. Romero came up with one out, but grounded into a double play to end the inning with the Sooners still leading 3-2.

The Auburn Tigers did not have many chances to score in the first six innings, but that changed dramatically in the seventh. Carlee Wallace drew a lead off walk before Jade Rhodes lifted a two run shot over the center field wall to close the deficit to one run.

The Tigers were not done threatening as Haley Fagan singled up the middle and a throwing error by Paige Parker on a hit back to her allowed runners to be on second and third with only one out. The Sooners forced a ground ball fielder’s choice that threw the runner out at home thanks to a heads up play by Knighten. That gave Auburn two outs with runners on the corners, but Tiffany Howard popped out to end the game.

Parker got the win for Oklahoma after throwing a complete game allowing four hits and three walks with only one strikeout. She threw 91 pitches in the game to push her 2016 Tournament total to 955. She has won 26 straight starts in the circle.

Lexi Davis, the surprise starter for Auburn, pitch 6 innings giving up three runs on seven hits and two walks with only one strikeout. Davis had only pitched one inning in the NCAA Tournament prior to this game.

Game Two of the 2016 WCWS Championship Series will be on Tuesday at 8 PM Eastern Time. Auburn will be the home team as they look to stave off elimination while Oklahoma would capture their third National Championship with a win.